tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627322010786735293.post785623049629748333..comments2015-02-20T00:29:28.817+01:00Comments on Antipodes: Colorful malesWilliam Skyvingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10052367756561555096noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627322010786735293.post-59365077128994523702008-07-16T10:03:00.000+02:002008-07-16T10:03:00.000+02:00Thanks for your comment. I'm immensely pleased tha...Thanks for your comment. I'm immensely pleased that the TV coverage in Australia is enabling Cadel's supporters to see him in action in the Tour de France. For the moment, nobody knows if he's capable of winning the Tour's highest honors. Cadel's major weakness [his Achilles heel, you might say] is the relatively meager quality of his team. We saw this the other day on the slopes of the Tourmalet. Evans was all alone, surrounded by opponents, without a single team mate. Sure, there are stages whose nature is such that a strong team is not necessary: time trials, for example. It's a truism to say that, as long as the leader is getting along well, he doesn't really need team members... except, of course, when the champion in question is a sprinter, who needs to be "led" towards the finishing line and then "launched".<BR/><BR/>An aspect of the character of Evans that I appreciate greatly is his quiet and friendly disposition, like the legendary personality of an Outback grazer. He's never flashy, and makes no effort to draw attention to himself. He's the Aussie equivalent of France's Bernard Hinault... who, incidentally, became a genuine grazer in Brittany, many years ago, after his retirement from cycling. Hinault abandons temporarily his herd, every year, to accompany the Tour de France. He's the guy you see at the awards ceremony at the end of every stage, buttoning up the back of the winners' jerseys.William Skyvingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10052367756561555096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627322010786735293.post-73260733115595799882008-07-16T00:21:00.000+02:002008-07-16T00:21:00.000+02:00I saw the interview with his mother on sbs last ni...I saw the interview with his mother on sbs last night. It made me smile much more than the Pope ever could. Or all those old men in their red frocks.<BR/><BR/>Not that I've got anything against red frocks. Or old men. It's just not a very aesthetic combinationnursemyrahttp://nursemyra.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com